Japan Stocks Rise but Closes Off Intraday High due to Profit Taking

The Nikkei Stock Average rose to a fresh seven-month high but closed well off its intraday high on Monday as investors locked in recent gains during afternoon trading.

The 225-issue average finished up 22.14 points, or 0.24 percent, from Thursday at 9,388.94, its highest close since May 1, after gaining as much as 121 points in the morning. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 3.07 points, or 0.40 percent to 779.50.

Japan’s financial markets were closed Friday for a national holiday.

Steelmakers, utilities and brokerage houses saw the biggest gains in percentage terms, while oil distributors, real estate developers and insurers suffered losses.

The Tokyo market maintained upward momentum for most of the day, buoyed by the yen’s weakness and Wall Street’s strong performance on Black Friday last week.

But investors locked in gains toward the close amid a lack of fresh buying incentives as the yen began to regain some ground against the U.S. dollar and the euro, brokers said.

via Mainichi

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